Our Town
by trezelle2
Summary: T for language. Jareth is rebuilding his Labyrinth after Sarah left - but it has lost its shine. Will the Labyrinth be abandoned forever, or will Jareth remember why he loves it? Better than summary suggests, I promise :D


**A/N: Song is "Our Town" by James Taylor, from the movie "Cars" Standard disclaimers apply. REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CRYSTAL ON TOP?**

_Long ago, but not so very long ago_

_The world was different, oh yes it was_

Jareth sat in the window he had peered out not a week ago, watching Sarah destroy the city for her brother. Maybe Jareth was a masochist, but he somehow enjoyed the feeling of having a challenge, a reason to fight and do something other than kick those goblins around… Now the town was being rebuilt, and Jareth felt depressed. Suddenly the whole Underground held no splendor anymore. He used to marvel at sunsets and the stars, twilights and dawns. But he had seen a glimpse of something better, and the Underground would never look the same.

_You settled down and you built a town and made it there_

_And you watched it grow_

_It was your town_

"How is it," he thought, "that I built the Labyrinth, I formed a kingdom from the wilderness and chaos… and I feel that this is boring? That with all I've done for it, all I've been amazed by for hundreds of years, all it takes is one stupid teenager to turn my whole world upside down?" He grew angrier, and grabbed a goblin from the floor. "WHY?"

_Time goes by, time brings changes, you change, too_

"Time brings changes… how ironic. I have reordered time for the girl that crushed me, yet time itself has reordered me."

_Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go_

_Never see it coming, the world caves in on you_

_On your town_

_Nothing you can do._

Every other runner that had tried to rescue their little brothers and sisters, pets and friends, had been easy enough to dispatch. The first puzzle often had them trying to hurt the gardener, which resulted in Headwart being summoned to the castle to protect him. Then, if they somehow got in, the worm would keep quiet and they would collapse in exhaustion, never finding an opening. Then, if they found their way, an oubliette was in order, or a peach, or a dwarf to lead them back to the beginning. So Sarah didn't seem like a big challenge - just another whiny teenage girl. Oh, how he was wrong. He threw out every trick he had, plus his oh-so-truthful declarations of love, but there was nothing he could do. He hadn't seen it coming, but his whole world had caved in on him.

_Main street isn't main street anymore_

_Lights don't shine as brightly as they shone before_

_Tell the truth, lights don't shine at all_

_In our town_

The main road through the city was broken and cracked, with cannon balls and rocks lodged into it in the most inopportune places. Some of the more childlike goblins had asked him where Main Street went - they said the road wasn't Main Street anymore. "Oh, they don't know how right they were," he said to himself. The stars seemed to be dimmer now - if they even shone at all anymore.

_Sun comes up each morning_

_Just like it's always done_

_Get up, go to work, start the day,_

_Open up for business that's never gonna come_

_As the world rolls by a million miles away_

The sun rose the next morning, and Jareth felt its warmth and light mocking him. He rolled out of bed, trying to remember if he had had 12 shots or 13 last night. He moaned, "Get up, go to work, start another damn day. Get all ready for those idiot runners that don't come anymore… my life STINKS!"

_Main street isn't main street anymore_

_No one seems to need us like they did before_

_It's hard to find a reason left to stay_

"It's pointless… nobody comes here, nobody needs us anymore. The city's ruined… we should just relocate. Unless one of you cretins can tell me why we should stay?" he sneered at the goblins.

_But it's our town_

_And we love it anyway_

_Come what may, it's our town._

One came up to him, a young female. "Swillin told me 'bout this place. All yours, you king. You leave, not yours, you not king… And Sarah come back here?"

The king smiled. "Maybe you're right, you little scamp. Everyplace has its troubles, I suppose… but this right here is our place, come what may. We love it anyway."

The small goblin hugged his legs and scampered off.

And the king did remember why he kept those imbeciles around - for the same reason as he stayed in the crumbling labyrinth; they were _his _people, and this was _his _land. It didn't matter if it wasn't the hub of mythological attention it used to be - it was the place that flowed with his magic and his spirit. This was his own. This was _their_ own - because the goblins were part of him and this land too.

_It's our town_


End file.
